IPL 2025: Ranking all 10 captains of IPL 2025 by their salaries ft. Rajat Patidar, Shubman Gill

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IPL 2025: The reverse countdown to IPL 2025 has started. All 10 teams have started their respective preparations for the mega event, which will start on March 22 at the Eden Gardens.

This will be the first IPL season after the mega auction, where lots of big names switched teams. Quite a few players also received massive hikes in their salaries, and a majority of the teams changed their captains as well.

Delhi Capitals were the last team to name their skipper as they appointed Axar Patel as the new captain on March 13. Now that the captains of all 10 teams have been locked in, here’s a list ranking them based on their IPL 2025 salaries.

#10 KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane – ₹1.5 crore

The only IPL 2025 captain with a salary of less than ₹10 crore is Kolkata Knight Riders’ new skipper Ajinkya Rahane. KKR won the trophy under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership in IPL 2024, but Iyer parted ways with the franchise, prompting them to hunt for a new leader.

The Knight Riders smartly secured the services of veteran Indian batter Rahane for just ₹1.5 crore. Rahane has led Rising Pune Supergiant and Rajasthan Royals in the past. He will lead KKR for the first time.

#9 RCB captain Rajat Patidar – ₹11 crore

Rajat Patidar received a massive salary hike ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. Royal Challengers Bengaluru had signed him as a replacement for just ₹20 lakh in 2022. They retained him for ₹11 crore ahead of the mega auction.

It was clear that the RCB team management saw Patidar as their next leader. The team organized a grand event ahead of IPL 2025 to declare Patidar as the next skipper.

#8 MI captain Hardik Pandya – ₹16.35 crore

Hardik Pandya could have easily earned more than ₹25 crore had he entered the IPL 2025 Auction. However, the Mumbai Indians captain preferred to stay loyal to his franchise.

Pandya did not have a great season as captain in IPL 2024. Still, MI have backed him as their skipper for the upcoming season. He agreed for a ₹16.35 crore deal with the franchise.

#6 GT captain Shubman Gill – ₹16.5 crore

Another star Indian player who preferred loyalty over money is Gujarat Titans’ captain Shubman Gill. The right-handed opener accepted to be the team’s second retention so that Rashid Khan stayed with the franchise.

Gill agreed for a ₹16.5 crore deal with GT’s owners. The new salary of Gill is still more than double of the ₹8 crore he earned every season from 2022 to 2024.

#6 DC captain Axar Patel – ₹16.5 crore

When Delhi Capitals announced their retentions, it seemed like they would look for a new captain at the mega auction. DC even ended up signing former Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul at the auction.

Quite a few fans felt that DC would appoint Rahul as their next captain, but the franchise went with their IPL 2024 vice-captain Axar Patel. The Capitals had retained Patel for ₹16.5 crore before the auction.

#3 RR captain Sanju Samson – ₹18 crore

Three IPL captains jointly hold the third position with a salary of ₹18 crore. One of them is Rajasthan Royals’ captain Sanju Samson. The wicketkeeper batter has been RR’s captain since the 2021 season.

RR made it to the IPL 2022 Final under Samson’s captaincy. It will be interesting to see if he can help RR win their second IPL championship in the upcoming season.

#3 CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad – ₹18 crore

Ruturaj Gaikwad came into the limelight when he registered back-to-back half-centuries for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020. Next year, Gaikwad won the Orange Cap and guided CSK to the championship.

Since then, the right-handed opener has been an integral part of the team. In 2024, MS Dhoni handed over Chennai’s captaincy to Gaikwad, and in 2025, CSK retained him for a massive ₹18 crore.

#3 SRH captain Pat Cummins – ₹18 crore

The only foreigner to be appointed as a captain in IPL 2025 is Australia’s Pat Cummins. Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Cummins as their captain after he led the team to the IPL 2024 Final.

SRH’s performance improved a lot after Cummins became the skipper. Still, the Australian all-rounder accepted a pay cut as his IPL salary went down from ₹20.5 crore to ₹18 crore this season.

#2 PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer – ₹26.75 crore

IPL 2024 winning captain Shreyas Iyer will lead the Punjab Kings team in 2025. Iyer felt that he did not get enough recognition despite leading KKR to the trophy last season.

He will be hungry for more trophies when he leads PBKS this season. The Kings went all out for the star Indian batter and snapped him up for ₹26.75 crore, making him the second most expensive signing.

#1 Highest-paid captain in IPL 2025 – LSG skipper Rishabh Pant – ₹27 crore

IPL 2025: Lucknow Super Giants set a new record for the highest bid for a single player in IPL history as they shelled out ₹27 crore to acquire wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant’s services. Soon after the IPL 2025 auction, LSG named Pant as their skipper.

IPL 2025: Pant led Delhi Capitals to the playoffs in IPL 2021. It will be exciting to see how he performs in his first season as the LSG captain. Incidentally, LSG will start their campaign against Pant’s former team DC on March 24.

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